Light homemade stoves and other things dealing with FIRE
http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear.html for the Cat Stove and Pepsi can stove
Eric Olsen has added the simmer ring instructions to the Cat Stove plans on
his site:
http://www.hike.f2s.com/gear/homemade/simmer.htm
http://members.home.net/d.h.j/stove/HighPerfAlcoholStove.html
http://wings.interfree.it/ Wings THE HOME-MADE STOVE ARCHIVES
From: [email protected]
In normal mode I was getting a maximum of 9 minutes from 2 oz. I was able to bump it up to almost 30 minutes - 28 to be exact. I've been messing around with two "designs"- both a bit clumsy but they are light and work OK: 1) 3/4 inch by 2 inch piece of aluminum - thicker than the can, but don't know exact gauge. I pull the wind shield away, and just plop it down on the burner. Flames shoot out on either side of the piece, so it is not a very even heat- but it does triple the burn time. I made a tab on the end to make it easier to place it. 2) take a Pepsi can and cut the bottom off right where the paint stops. Center this right down on top of the 'jets'. Flames will shoot out all the way around it since it is circular - it is more of an even heat but I only got 18 minutes or so of burn time. I used JB Weld to glue a 3" long piece of aluminum on it to make it easier to center. The windshield has to be removed & the pot lifted up. I got a 20 minute burn time with this one.
NOTE: Do not use a piece of galvanized aluminum for this !!!! My neighbor is a sheet metal worker and informed me that this will give off poisonous fumes. Not good.
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From: Jack Young
I just learned about a new tip for fire starting. Take a cotton ball and impregnate a bunch of Vaseline. Light and it will burn for about 10 minutes. Plenty of time to start a blaze of a fire.
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From: Trailblazer75
You can now buy strike-anywheres kitchen matches again. I find at Menards, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc. Take 6-8 of the matches and wind with about 2-3 feet of cotton string, leaving about 6 inches of string hanging. Using the loose string as a handle, dip the package in melted paraffin and let it soak for a bit. You can get paraffin in the canning section of a supermarket or hardware store. Melt it in a can immersed in boiling water. Lift out the package and let cool on wax paper or foil. To use, rub the paraffin of the match heads and strike on any convenient rock, or the file in your multi-tool. It will burn up to twenty minutes. Not as easy as the cotton balls, but less messy. Easy to carry in a pocket, waterproof. I have used some that were lost for twenty years. I carry a piece of "fat wood" about half inch square and eight inches long. It is extremely light. Wrap it in Saran wrap or put in baggy anything to avoid getting sap on your pack. It is relatively waterproof, so it isn't wrapped for that. Fat wood is available in small bags, or in boxes from Menards, Home Depot, fireplace shops, etc. It is pieces of turpentine pine. It is so full of resin, that if you snap a piece, you can light the broken ends with a match. I personally shave it and put on my firestarters in a pinch when there is absolutely dry kindling available, and nothing to split. One stick of it will burn for 20-30 minutes.
When I am backpacking alone (seldom now) or with only one other person, we often strive for minimum weight. I can't carry what I used to. I have two lightweight aluminum "pudding pans" that nest. They are about 2 inches deep and 6-7 inches in diameter. While not too good for serious cooking, since they are too thin, they are good for eating, mixing, as a lid for my wok, and as a cover when I bake on the hearth. The wok I carry is cut down from a thin sheet steel wok and is 9 inches across the top. I used a Dremel tool to cut it and smooth the edges. Once seasoned, it is, for all practical purposes, nonstick without special coatings. It has no handle. I use my multi tool to lift it off the fire or stove. If I have a fire, I often nestle it right on the coals. You can also rake the fire away, place wok on the hot ground after scraping a depression to keep it from tipping and pull coals back around it to adjust the heat. A ring made from a large tuna can with both ends removed will support it also, and works on some stoves. You may have to fashion your own ring to suit your stove. I also carry a coffee can that holds about a quart. Two holes in the side near the top, and a piece of coat hanger makes for a kettle to boil water for tea, coffee, washwater, etc. When it is packed it is filled with two tablespoons, the wire handle and an extra one in case one gets lost, a pot scrubber, spices, salt and pepper, etc. So it effectively takes no space. The little plastic lid that came with the can keeps all together. Used to carry sporks, but find a twig or my knife point works as a fork. All I need is a spoon. The advantages are the kit is cheap, and light. The wok heats fast with little fuel, and can be used to cook anything. oatmeal, omelets, meats, stews, etc. Once accustomed to it, you can even bake cake in it using the pudding pans as a lid. I sometimes invert one pan over the wok, and put coals in the other pan and place it on top for a makeshift Dutch oven. Season the wok as you would a Dutch oven, heating it with oil, and wiping it dry after it cools. It will develop a lovely hard black coating on the inside that will be practically nonstick. Don't use soap. Wipe clean, and boil a little water in it to rinse it when necessary. When you heat it to cook, you will kill any bacteria that might be there. In 20 years of doing it this way, no problem with sanitation. When you aren't going to use it for a long time, be sure it is in a dry area to prevent rust, or else wipe it lightly with mineral oil from a drug store and store in a plastic bag. Don't use vegetable oils, they get rancid. Don't use any type of lubricating oil, they often have additives. This is also true for Dutch ovens. If you have a fire that has been burning long enough to heat and dry the ground, and develop a good bed of coals, you can bake right on the ground. Make your biscuit batter stiff enough to handle, add more flour if necessary. Form a patty about the size of a thick hamburger, and dust the outside with flour until it is no longer sticky. Scrape the fire away to solid hot ground. Place the biscuit on the ground, pull about 2 inches dead gray ashes over the patty, and then some hot coals. Sharpen a twig. After ten minutes, stick the twig through the coals into the biscuit. You should note a little resistance as you go through the crust. Withdraw the twig. If it is clean and dry, the biscuit is done. If it has dough on it let it bake another five minutes. If it won't penetrate the crust, Whoops, it is probably burned. When you take it out of the coals, dust and blow away any ash. Done right, you won't even notice it. Expect some failures as you learn, I can do about 20-25 right, and then burn one. If it is underdone, split it with your knife and toast the inside in the wok or on a grate over the coals. Your friends will think you have rocks in your head until they see the results. <]8-)